Morgan Stanley Lowers Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Price Target to $61.00

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $63.00 to $61.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 5.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on HXL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Hexcel from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hexcel from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Hexcel in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hexcel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Hexcel from $86.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.71.

Hexcel Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:HXL opened at $64.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Hexcel has a 12 month low of $58.81 and a 12 month high of $77.09. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 54.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.89.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Hexcel had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $500.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Hexcel will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nick L. Stanage acquired 15,000 shares of Hexcel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.29 per share, with a total value of $964,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 392,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,230,353.34. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Guy C. Hachey bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.53 per share, for a total transaction of $193,590.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,590. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nick L. Stanage bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.29 per share, for a total transaction of $964,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 392,446 shares in the company, valued at $25,230,353.34. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 43,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,820,322 in the last ninety days. 1.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hexcel

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HXL. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,955,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 2.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,440 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 6.9% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Hexcel by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,044 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,576,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hexcel

Hexcel Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets carbon fibers, structural reinforcements, honeycomb structures, resins, and composite materials and parts for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications. It operates through two segments, Composite Materials and Engineered Products.